Never going Back ⋆ Stranger Things

8. The Hanged Man

"Fucking of course," Eddie clenched the hand that wasn't holding the now-bloody cloth. "I swear if I see those guys I'm going to..." He trailed off, seemingly unsure of what he would do. Something horrid, certainly. Steve, probably foolishly, hoped Eddie would do nothing at all.

"Eddie?" The voice made both boys jump slightly, looking over to Oz, who slowly opened one eye. "Oh, fuck."

Yeah, Steve thought in agreement, letting out a deep breath. You could say that again.

Oz attempted to move, to scramble up and away from the two boys with their eyes on him. Neither allowed him, though, Steve diving to hold Oz down right as Eddie was on him, gripping Oz's shoulders and gently but firmly pressing Oz back into the couch cushions.

"Take it easy," Steve said, "you're still pretty out of it." Steve wasn't even sure why he bothered talking at all. He might not be the brightest, at times, but as he looked at Oz and Eddie in front of him even Steve could tell that he might as well not be in the room at all.

Oz, both eyes open now, was looking at Eddie with the saddest eyes Steve had ever seen. Eddie, in turn, was looking back at him with a mixture of worry and anger in his eyes—not anger directed towards Oz, though.

"I'm going to kill Jason."

"Please don't," Steve murmured in response, assuming it would go unheard. Eddie's words managed to crack what would have to pass for a smile on Oz's face—not much more than the slight raise of one corner of his mouth—though he also shook his head the best he could.

The two boys in front of him shared a long quiet moment of eye contact, and suddenly Steve felt like he was intruding on something he shouldn't be.

"I, uh, I should get going." Steve cleared his throat as he stood up, eyes purposefully avoiding looking at the two boys. They finally turned to him, almost as if they suddenly remembered he was in the room with them. "The bag of stuff is by the door. Try to keep him awake for the next six or so hours, and make sure that he keeps breathing tonight when he sleeps."

With a brief promise of coming back with food again soon, Steve excused himself and snuck out of the house, back to his car, leaving Oz and Eddie behind on the couch. The two boys shared another moment of silent eye contact. When Eddie's smile widened, Oz had to look away.

"I can't believe you fought Jason." Eddie sat himself down on the floor, leaning his back against the couch as he rifled through the first-aid kit.

Oz groaned, either as a response or just in general, and prayed the couch would swallow him whole.

Steve had seen. Sure, Steve had saved his life, and Oz also admitted to him that he only fought Jason because Jason called Eddie a faggot, which Steve hadn't responded poorly to, but none of those things exactly made Steve a friend to queers.

"Did you hit him hard?" Eddie was staring ahead of himself, head slightly leaning back and curls brushing against Oz's stomach. "I bet he's one of those guys that cries when you hit him. Can't believe those other assholes held you down, too. That's fucking evil."

Eddie was just so incredibly himself. Oz wanted to worry, wanted to give into the knot of fear twisting in his stomach, but when he saw Eddie's entire face light up with a smile at the idea of Jason having been punched in the face Oz simply couldn't find it in himself to do so.

It was too much, all of the sudden, the things Oz was feeling. His fears refused to go unacknowledged. All of his anxieties crawled up his throat and strangled him. Oz sat up quickly, despite better judgment, but the rush of adrenaline negated the pain of the rest of his body. He couldn't breathe. Steve knew, the basketball team knew, and soon all of Hawkins would know. And they were going to kill him for it. If the demon didn't get to him first the people of this town were going to kill him.